MC Final: Modern Motor Learning Concepts and Paradigms Flashcards
Why is timing important with Hebbian learning?
cell A must fire before cell B to make connection stronger not after
How does Pavlov’s dog relate to this concept?
he got bell cell and salivation cell to fire at same time by ringing bell and presenting food at same time which strengthened the synapse
What is synapse pruning?
synapse elimination which starts at birth removing unnecessary neuronal structures replacing them with more complex ones improve network connections in the brain
this occurs on small level with motor learning
What disease is associated with lack of pruning?
Autism
What is one of the most important laws in motor control?
speed accuracy trade off, started by Woodworth and led to Fitts Law
What is Fitts law equation?
Index of difficulty (ID)= Log2 (2a/W)
What does a slope on a graph mean?
a measure of skill, lower slope more skilled
How is Fitts law related to PT?
if accuracy is impt in rehab then you must give small motor to reduce neural noise
But what if large commands and high accuracy are needed?
Antagonistic co-activation- this reduces variability by stabilizing a joint during fine motor movements but comes at a higher energy cost by suppressing effects of neural noise
What is an internal model?
a postulated neural process that simulates the response of the motor system in order to estimate the outcome of a motor command.
What are the two types of problems involved with the internal model?
- inverse problem- how do you know what muscle activation pattern will produce a desired movements
- forward problem- given a set of muscle activations what will the movement be
What experiment led to support of the internal model?
Force field experiment, forces were added to hand moving towards the center of a circle
when force field was removed the hand made same motions
